Asked to offer his prognosis for the company, which reported an annual loss of $5.9 billion...Chen offered an upbeat diagnosis: “I am quite confident that we’ll be able to save the patient.”

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[He] said the company’s future will hinge on successfully returning to its enterprise roots and developing products for specialized markets where security is valued. ... BlackBerry will also attempt to crack the Internet of Things market. MORE

Scott Moritz and Brian Womack add background:

Chen has been working to shift the Waterloo, Ontario-based company’s focus. ... Since his arrival, BlackBerry has pushed to have a bigger role in connecting everything from heart monitors to automobiles to the Internet as mobile service spreads beyond phones and tablets.

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BlackBerry’s worldwide market share will slide to 0.8 percent in 2014 and may slip to 0.3 percent by 2018, IDC said. ... As recently as late 2010, its global market share was 19 percent. MORE

And Ronen Halevy reviews:

John Chen...stated that he puts his odds of saving BlackBerry at 80/20.

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He went on to say that he thinks the handset business can actually lead to more shareholder value which is why he has not jettisoned it.

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[And] in a final zinger he declined to comment on if BlackBerry would make Android phones. MORE

If the company has to ditch the handset, and survive on its software and patents, the company can do so:.."I will be able to create a lot of value...without handset business, but I can create more with the handset business."

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Asked whether he was the most qualified person to run the troubled company:.."Am I the most qualified? No, I'm the only one they could find." MORE

Meanwhile, Roger Cheng and Connie Guglielmo place their bets:

An 80 percent chance [is] a lot higher than his previous estimate, which he said was a 50-50 chance of success. ... BlackBerry is in the fight of its life as it struggles amid shrinking market share and continued losses.

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Chen was relatively candid for an executive. ... He admitted the company, under previous CEO Thorsten Heins, got distracted.

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The new BlackBerrys will have larger screens, full physical keyboard, and the old productive features of its trademark messaging-centric smartphones, Chen said. MORE

Richi Jennings — Your humble blogwatcher is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, spam, and other security topics. He was voted 'Most likely to get up first to sing at karaoke' for 14 years in succession.